The manga “Jujutsu Kaisen” came to a close in the 44th issue of “Weekly Shonen Jump”, released on September 30, 2024. Leading up to the final chapter, the term “Only __ Chapters Left” was trending on social media every week, and even on the day of the conclusion, "#JujutsuKaisen" remained one of the top trends. Readers, along with the official anime Twitter (now X) and voice actors, expressed their raw reactions to the finale, with many lamenting its end. “Jujutsu Kaisen”, written by Akutami Gege, is a dark fantasy manga serialized in “Weekly Shonen Jump”. It tells the story of Itadori Yuji, a high school student who, to save a friend from a curse, ends up harboring the curse within himself. The story revolves around his intense battle with various curses. The anime adaptation began airing in October 2020, and the movie “Jujutsu Kaisen 0” was released in December 2021, earning a massive worldwide box office gross of 26.5 billion yen. The second season of the TV anime, covering the "Hidden Inventory/Premature Death" and "Shibuya Incident" arcs, aired from July to December 2023. A movie compilation of the Hidden Inventory arc is set to release in 2025, and the third season covering the Culling Game arc is already in production. Additionally, an exhibition of Akutami Gege’s work will be held in Osaka starting in April 2025. After a six-year run, the “Jujutsu Kaisen” manga reached its conclusion with Chapter 271, published on September 30. Since its debut in 2018, fans have been hooked on the series. Starting from September 24, a countdown with images was posted on the official X account, featuring phrases like, “Nooo!! This is my favorite series!” and “I’m curious about the finale, but I don’t want it to end.” These mixed feelings continued to pour in as the finale approached. Even after reading the grand finale, which featured a special full-color center spread, readers expressed their emotions: “I’m shaking after reading it,” “That character’s return...,” and “The ending was so good… Thank you for all your hard work.” To commemorate the conclusion, the 44th issue included a memorial postcard featuring a handwritten message and original illustration by Akutami. There’s also a special service offering a digital print of the entire final chapter for those who apply. Even the voice actors of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime bid farewell to the series It wasn't just the readers who were emotional about the finale. The official Jujutsu Kaisen anime X account shared celebratory illustrations and comments from Goshozono Shota, the director of Season 2. The full comment can be read on the official anime website. Several of the anime’s voice actors also expressed their gratitude and congratulations on their X accounts. Enoki Junya, the voice actor for Itadori Yuji, wrote, “Please let me read another one of your amazing works soon,” expressing hope for Akutami’s future projects. Volume 28 of the “Jujutsu Kaisen” manga will be released on October 4, with Volumes 29 and 30, the final volumes, set to be released simultaneously on December 25. With the third season of the anime covering the “Culling Game Arc” in production, there’s still much more of “Jujutsu Kaisen” to look forward to. (C) Akutami Gege / Shueisha

The results of "Naruto Top 99," the first worldwide character popularity poll for "Naruto," have been announced. In conjunction with this announcement, Kishimoto Masashi, the author of the original manga, has released newly drawn illustrations of the top 22 characters. In addition, a new manga focusing on Namikaze Minato, who won the first place, will also be drawn. “NARUTO" is a ninja action manga series by Kishimoto Masashi that was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Jump" from 1999 to 2014 and completed in 72 volumes. The story follows the main character, the ninja Uzumaki Naruto, as he overcomes deadly battles with rivals and past fates in his quest to become the Hokage, the chief of the village of Konohagakure. The series is highly popular not only in Japan but also overseas, with a total of more than 250 million copies of the comics sold worldwide, including digital editions. Currently, the sequel "BORUTO -NARUTO NEXT GENERATIONS-" is in development, as are "Naruto: Sasuke Retsuden Uchiha no Matsuei to Tenkyu no Hoshikuzu" and "Naruto: Kinoha Shinden Yusake Ninpocho", which are comic adaptations of the original novel. The anime started on TV Tokyo affiliated channels from 2002, and it was broadcast as "Naruto: Shippuden" deom 2007 to March 2017. In October 2022, the 20th anniversary of the TV broadcast will be celebrated. In addition, a total of 11 animated feature films have been released. In addition to numerous apps, games, and goods, exhibitions, 2.5D musicals, music festivals, and kabuki performances have also been held. This was the first time in 11 years that a character popularity contest had been held for a work since the 7th Popularity Poll in 2011. For the first time, the poll was conducted online for the entire world, with approximately 4.6 million votes cast. “Namikaze Minato," which became overwhelmingly popular in all regions of the world and among all ages, took the prestigious first place, followed by "Uchiha Itachi" in second place. "Haruno Sakura" came in third place, who made an amazing catch-up in the final stages of the competition. For the final results of the top 100 and below, of those who narrowly missed making the "NARUTOP99" list, as well as other special data such as rankings by generation, please check the special webpage. In addition, the short manga of the top-ranked character by the original author, Kishimoto Masashi, will be drawn in the volume of a "reading manga" with more pages due to the high expectations from fans all over the world. As well as that, to commemorate the announcement of the "NARUTOP99" results, LINE stamps of the top 22 characters featured in Kishimoto's illustrations are now on sale. We will keep an eye on the "NARUTOP99" related developments, including the continuation of the reading manga. (c) Kishimoto Masashi, Scott/Shueisha